Scan Profiles

An antivirus scan profile is a
collection of scanner settings that tell CIS:

Where
to scan (which files, folders or drives should be covered by the
scan)

When
to scan (you have the option to specify a schedule)

How
to scan (a profile lets you specify the
behavior of the scan engine)

CIS ships
with three pre-defined scan profiles and allows you to create custom
scan profiles.

Full
Scan - Covers every local drive, folder and file on your system.
External devices such as USB drives, storage drives and digital
cameras will also be scanned.

Quick
Scan - Covers critical areas of your computer which are highly prone
to infection from viruses, root-kits and other malware. Areas
scanned include system memory, auto-run entries, hidden services,
boot sectors and other significant areas like important registry
keys and system files. These areas are of great importance to the
health of your computer so it is essential to keep them free of
infection.

Manual
Scan – Choose the settings you wish to use for manual scans.
Manual scans are used, for example, when you right-click on a
file/folder and choose 'Scan with COMODO antivirus'. Double-click
'Manual scan' to the set items you want to scan. See Instantly Scan Files and Folders for more details.

You cannot modify the areas scanned in a pre-defined profile, but can edit the parameters that define the behavior of the scan. You can also create custom profiles and scan schedules.

To access the 'Scans' panel

Click
'Settings' at the top of the CIS home screen to open the 'Advanced
Settings' interface

Click
'Scans' under 'Antivirus' on the left

The 'Scans' panel displays a list
of pre-defined and user defined scan profiles.

Scan Profiles - Column Descriptions

Column Header

Description

Name

Name of the scan profile.

Action

The activity that the
profile is set to perform. Click this link to manually run a scan
according to the profile's parameters.

Last Scan

Date and time of the most
recent virus scan using this profile.

Status

Enable or disable the
profile.

'On' – Any scheduled
scans configured in the profile will continue to run. In addition,
you can manually run the scan at any time by clicking the 'Scan'
link.

'Off' - Any scheduled
scans configured in the profile will not run.You
can still manually run the scan by clicking the 'Scan' link.

The buttons at the top allow you to add three item types. You can add any combination of items.

Add File - Add individual files to the profile. Any files you add will be specifically scanned when the profile runs.

Add Folder - Add entire folders to the profile. All folder contents will be scanned when the profile runs.

Add Area - Add a regions of your computer which should be scanned when you run the profile. Regions include 'Full Computer', 'Commonly Infected Areas', 'System Memory' and 'Trusted Root Certificate Store'.

Use
cloud while scanning - Improves
scan accuracy by augmenting the local scan with an online look-up of
Comodo's latest signature database. Cloud
Scanning means CIS can detect the latest malware even if your virus
database is out-dated. (Default = Enabled).

Automatically
clean threats - Choose the automatic
action to be taken against detected threats. The options are:

Quarantine
Threats - Infected items will be moved to
Quarantine.You can review quarantined
items later and remove them or restore them (in case of false
positives). See Manage
Quarantined Items for more details on
managing quarantined items.

Disinfect
Threats - If a disinfection routine is
available, the antivirus will remove the infection and keep the
original, safe, file. If not, the item will be moved to
'Quarantine'. (Default)

Show
scan result window –
If
selected, you will see a summary of results at the end of the scan.
This includes the number of objects scanned and the number of
threats found.

Use
heuristics scanning - Select whether or
not heuristic techniques should be used during scans in this
profile. You are also given the opportunity to define the
heuristics scan level. (Default = Enabled).

Background.
Heuristic techniques identify previously unknown malware by analyzing
a file to see if it contains code typical of a virus. If it is found
to do so then the application deletes the file or recommends it for
quarantine. Heuristics is about detecting 'virus-like' attributes
rather than looking for a virus signature which exactly matches a
signature on the blacklist. This allows the engine to detect new
viruses even if they are not in the current virus database.

If
enabled, select the level of heuristic scanning from the drop-down:

Low - 'Lowest'
sensitivity to detecting unknown threats but will also generate the
fewest alerts. This setting combines a high level of protection with
a low rate of false positives. Comodo recommends this setting for
most users. (Default)

Medium - Detects unknown threats with greater sensitivity than the 'Low'
setting but with a corresponding rise in the possibility of false
positives.

High - Highest sensitivity to detecting unknown threats but
also raises the possibility of more false positives.

Limit
maximum file size to - Set
the maximum size of files (in MB) that the profile should scan.
Files larger than the size specified here will not be not scanned. (Default = 40 MB).

Run
this scan with - Set the Windows priority
of the scan process. (Default = Disabled). The
available options are:

Detect
potentially unwanted applications -
If enabled, the scan will also flag
applications that (i) a user may or may not be aware is installed on
their computer and (ii) may contain functionality and objectives
that are not clear to the user. Example PUA's include adware and
browser toolbars.

Background. PUA's are often bundled as an
additional 'utility' when the user is installing an unrelated piece
of software. Unlike malware, many PUA's are legitimate pieces of
software with their own EULA agreements. However, the true
functionality of the utility might not have been made clear to the
end-user at the time of installation. For example, a browser toolbar
may also contain code that tracks your activity on the internet. (Default = Enabled)

To schedule the scan to run at specified
time

Click
'Schedule' at the top of the 'Scan' interface.

Schedule options are:

Do
not schedule this task - The scan profile will be created but
will not run automatically. The profile
will be available for on-demand scans.

Every Day - Run
the scan every day at the time specified in the 'Start Time' field.

Every Week - Run
the scan on the day(s) specified in 'Days of the Week', at the time
specified in the 'Start Time' field. You can select the days
of the week by clicking on them.

Every Month - Run
the scan on the date(s) specified in 'Days of the month', at the
time specified in the 'Start Time' field. You can select the
dates of the month by clicking on them.

Run only when computer is
not running on battery - The scan only runs when the computer is
plugged into the power supply. This option is
useful when you are using a laptop or other mobile device.

Run only when computer is
IDLE - The scan will run only if the computer is in idle state
at the scheduled time. Select this option if you do not want the
scan to disturb you while you are using your computer.

Turn off computer if no
threats are found at the end of the scan - Will
turn off your computer if no threats are found during the scan.
This is useful when you are scheduling scans to run at nights.

Run during Windows Automatic Maintenance - Only available for Windows 8 and later. Select this option if you want the scan to run when Windows enters into automatic maintenance mode. The scan will run at maintenance time in addition to the configured schedule.

The option 'Run during Windows Maintenance' will be available only if 'Automatically Clean Threats' is enabled for the scan profile under the 'Options' tab. See Automatically Clean Threats.

Note: The scheduled scan will run only if it is enabled. Use the toggle switch under the 'Status' column beside the respective profile to toggle it between on and off statuses.

Click
'OK' to save the profile.

The profile will be available for
deployment in future.

To run a custom scan as per scan profile

Click
'Scan' from the 'General Tasks' interface and click 'Custom Scan'
from the 'Scans' interface

Click
'More Scan Options' from the 'Custom Scan' pane

The 'Scans'
pane will open with a list of existing scan profiles:

Click
the 'Scan' link in the 'Action' column of profile you wish to run:

The scan will start immediately. Results will be displayed afterwards:

The scan results window displays the number of objects scanned and the number of threats discovered. You can choose to clean, move to quarantine or ignore the threat based on your assessment. See Processing
the infected files for more details.

Edit
Predefined and Custom Scan Profiles

Select
the profile that you want to update from the list and click 'Edit'
at the top

This
will open a screen which allows you to add items, configure options
and schedule scans

Update
the profile settings as required. The procedure is similar to creating a new profile as explained above.